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Roosters run afoul of genetic rules | Science News

2015-12-22

Researchers caught a rooster doing a hen’s job: passing on mitochondrial DNA to his chicks. Mitochondria, the energy-generating organelles inside cells, carry a circular chromosome containing genes needed to make the mitochondria and keep them running. The long-held rule was that these powerhouses of the cell are inherited only from the mother. But some birds in a 50-generation family of White Plymouth Rock chickens at Virginia Tech broke that rule.

The extent to which male animals pass on mitochondrial DNA to their offspring is not completely known, but if it is a major transfer, then all bets on mitochondrial inheritance are off. My guess is that this is a minor pathway for inheritance but that it will require a complete rethinking of the mechanisms of mitochondrial inheritance.

Expect a major reshuffling of the accepted rules for mitochondrial DNA; this will take time but will completely change the inheritance patterns that we expect and change the conclusions drawn from the previous assumption of female-only mitochondrial inheritance.